Cultures and families clash in Mira Nair’s exuberant Monsoon Wedding, a
mix of comedy and chaotic melodrama concerning the preparations for the arranged
marriage of a modern upper-middle-class Indian family’s only daughter, Aditi. Of
course there are hitches—Aditi has been having an affair with a married TV host;
she’s never met her husband to be, who lives in Houston; the wedding has
worsened her father’s hidden financial troubles; even the wedding planner has
become a nervous wreck—as well as buried family secrets. But Nair’s celebration
is ultimately joyful and cathartic: a love song to her home city of Delhi and
her own Punjabi family.

***

Perhaps
the movie “Monsoon Wedding“ could be re-titled an “Ode to the Punjabi Life
Style in Delhi” ! Mira Nair, with such directorial credits as “Salaam Bombay”,
“Mississippi Masala“ and “The Perez Family“ has certainly created an ode
which pays tribute to both her Punjabi family roots and to her original native
city of Delhi.

The main story line is a straight forward one of an Indian wedding complete with
it’s attendant characteristics of color, costumes, culinary delights, music,
dancing, flowers, garlands and the groom riding on a horse back to meet his
bride to be – in other words, a complete package of Indian culture.

However, Mira Nair has done a deft job of exploring a few other themes in the
movie –

1. Relationships – The approach to arranged marriage as seen by the bride who is
still in love with her married ex-boy friend and waits till the last minute to
agree to marry the groom. The groom, an Indian living in the U.S.A who is
shocked to realize that his bride to be would have been in love with someone
else while agreeing to an arranged marriage. They do overcome their mutual
reluctance and start to fall in love with each other. A neat lesson that before
you marry someone, love does not have to be in full bloom but that there be a
willingness to accept and love each other.

• Audio
commentary featuring Nair
• Nair’s short documentaries So Far from India (1983), India Cabaret
(1985), and The Laughing Club of India (2001), featuring video
introductions by the director
• Nair’s short fiction films The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat (1993),
11’09"01—September 11 (Segment: “India”) (2002), Migration (2007), and
How Can It Be? (2008), featuring video introductions by the director
• New video interview with actor Naseeruddin Shah, conducted by Nair
• New video interviews with Quinn and production designer Stephanie
Carroll
• Theatrical trailer
• 30-page liner notes with essay by critic and travel writer Pico Iyer

DVD
Release Date: October 20th, 200

9
Custom Case
(see image)

Chapters
1

8

Release
Information:
Studio: Criterion

1080P / 23.976 fps
Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size:

49,207,785,984 bytes

Feature:

24,668,190,720 bytes

Video Bitrate:
22.92

Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Edition
Details:

• Audio
commentary featuring Nair
• Nair’s short documentaries So Far from India (1983), India Cabaret
(1985), and The Laughing Club of India (2001), featuring video
introductions by the director
• Nair’s short fiction films The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat (1993),
11’09"01—September 11 (Segment: “India”) (2002), Migration (2007), and
How Can It Be? (2008), featuring video introductions by the director
• New video interview with actor Naseeruddin Shah, conducted by Nair
• New video interviews with Quinn and production designer Stephanie
Carroll
• Theatrical trailer
• 30-page liner notes with essay by critic and travel writer Pico Iyer

DVD
Release Date: October 20th, 200

9
Transparent thick Blu-ray Case

Chapters
1

8

Comments

ADDITION: Criterion - Region
'A' Blu-ray
- October 09': With the production roots of the film being Super 16mm -
we feel the dual-layered Criterion transfer has probably max'ed out the
appearance quality via Blu-ray.
Colors seem more vibrant with reds especially brighter and less orange.
Grain is dramatically more visible and gives the overall canvas a very
textured, and authentic, film-like look. This may be too heavy for
individuals more used t glossy, smooth, visuals as found on modern films
to 1080P. Detail tightens up and skin tones seem even more less-yellow
as they warm up a further shade. Expectantly the Blu-ray
gives a superior representation of the theatrical intent of the film's
appearance. It's clean, gritty with vibrant, impressive, colors.

Criterion's lossless DTS-HD Master 5.1
track at 3952 kbps takes just as big a leap from the SD-DVD as the image
quality does. There is far better range, with deeper bass - notable in
the party and music sequences although not being an action film the
separation remains limited to the film's intent. Dialogue is still
scattered a bit and this remains a function of the production - no fault
of the transfer. As usual, Criterion includes optional English subtitles
and my Momitsu
has identified
it as being a region
'A'-locked.

The extensive extras are
duplicated on the DVD as discussed below with the shorts in HD and a Blu-ray
specific Timeline feature - appearing as a pop-up menu (accessible via
the red remote button) with bookmarking available with the green remote
button. As opposed to having the extras housed on 2 DVDs you have them
all available on the one Blu-ray.
The liner notes booklet is also included.

So, is the Blu-ray
worth the upgrade? Well, it's $3 cheaper than the DVD package and
improves in every single area - so this is obviously what we recommend.
The film tends to come to life more with the HD resolution - in both
video... and audio. It's surely the best way to see Monsoon Wedding
in your home theater.

***

Essentially the Criterion
looks the best but I expect the forthcoming
Blu-ray
to be the biggest difference between the editions. The NTSC Criterion
transfer is the only one that is both anamorphic and has totally
removable subtitles. It is on a dual-layered DVD, progressively
transferred and 16X9 enhanced. Unfortunately this original comparison is
quite old and we shrunk the other anamorphic captures to about 720
pixels wide, so have done so with the Criterion as well. It doesn't
hinder the color comparisons though with the Criterion being both
brighter and with more natural flesh tones. Contrast is also superior
although detail doesn't improve an extravagant amount. The Blu-rayshould fill in some gaps on the visuals -
stay tuned.

The Criterion audio is
expectantly acceptable - without an abundance of separation but is quite
clean and crisp throughout. The Criterion English subtitles are
optional.

Where Criterion vaults ahead,
as usual, is in the extras. Mira Nair
gives a decent commentary on many facets of production. She has a very
pleasing voice that fans of the film will enjoy indulging in the
full-length optional commentary. The Laughing Club of India from 2000 is
a 4:3 35-minute documentary that explores the power of laughter through
the strangely popular phenomenon of laughing clubs in contemporary
Bombay. You may choose an optional director introduction that runs about
4-minutes. Naseeruddin Shah is interviewed (2009) by director Nair for
21-minutes and he talks to her about his experiences onstage and in
film. Cinematographer Declan Quinn and production designer Stephanie
Carroll talk about creating the look of Monsoon Wedding for about
10-minutes - shot in 2009. There is also an anamorphic theatrical
trailer running 2-minutes on disc one.

Disc two contains six other
short films by director Mira Nair divided into 'Documentary" (2) or
"Fictional" (4) and all offer an optional introductions by Nair.
So Far
From India runs almost 50-minutes and is the story of Ashok Sheth - one
of many Indian immigrants working in subway newsstands in New York City.
This documentary follows his first journey back home to Ahmedabad, where
he is forced to confront the conflicts between his ancestral culture and
his new life in America. India Cabaret is almost 1 hour and examines the
line separating "good" and "bad" women in Indian Society, specifically
by focusing on the dancers at a Bombay strip club, a frequent patron,
and his stay-at-home wife. The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat is less
than 12-minutes is a tale of one family as they leave South Africa on
the day of Chris Hani (South Africa's Communist Party leader) funereal
after his assassination in April of 1993. 11’09”01-September (Segment
'India') is based on the true events surrounding the September 11th, 2001
disappearance of Salman Hamdani, a young Pakistani American man from
Queens NY. This films portrays his Mother's struggle with terrorist
allegations, her own fears, and her son's fate that day. It was
pre-determined to run 11-minutes. Migration runs just shy of 20-minutes
and is part of the four-film series on the Aids epidemic in India. This
short examines the virus as Indian society's greater class leveler
following its transmission through interweaving stories that link urban
and rural India. How Can It Be will runs 9 minutes and is one of eight
shorts commissioned by the United Nations on themes concerning global
society. This film explores gender equality through the story of Zainab
and Arif - who live with their son Munna in Brooklyn. Zainab makes the
complicated decision to leave her protected life and follow her heart.
Included is a 30-page liner notes with essay by critic and travel writer
Pico Iyer.

I really enjoyed the short film supplements on the Criterion and look
forward to seeing the film again in 1080P resolution as I expect the
color vibrancy to standout even more prominently. Please stay tuned for
as we add the Criterion
Blu-ray
to this comparison as soon as we can.